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November 22, 2024
 

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Philip Brasor
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Apr 30, 2017
Safety Net Law to offer new lease on life for abandoned buildings
On April 19, the Lower House of the Diet unanimously passed a revision to the Safety Net Law. The revision creates a new system that will register vacant properties with local governments and, ideally, these properties will be renovated and then rented out to low-income individuals and families who are...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 29, 2017
Voter apathy can threaten democracy
On April 17 the Asahi Shimbun reviewed the results of various local elections that had taken place the day before. The main story was not who got voted in or out, but whether or not anyone cared.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Apr 22, 2017
Tellmeclub's bankruptcy grounds discount travel services
On March 27, discount travel company Tellmeclub filed for bankruptcy while a number of its Japanese customers were still overseas on package tours.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 22, 2017
Documentary renews debate over renewable energy
Earlier this month, Kyodo News surveyed 44 companies that started selling electricity to consumers after the energy market was liberalized in April 2016.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 15, 2017
Television has forgotten its golden years
Japanese commercial television companies have a problem. The bulk of their programming has always been aimed at relatively young people, because that's what advertisers want. But young people no longer watch TV, or, at least, not in the numbers they used to. Having grown up in a world ruled by the internet,...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 8, 2017
Higher education keeps overreaching
Since the mid-2000s, the number of Japanese people who turn 18 in a given year has remained constant at about 1.2 million. That will change with the high school graduating class of 2018, which will be smaller than the class of 2017.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / YEN FOR LIVING
Apr 8, 2017
'Nekonomics' does its bit to keep Japan's economy purring
In our last column we talked about the economic effectiveness (keizai kōka) of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Keizai kōka is often used as an indication of how much money a given scheme or phenomenon adds to a particular economy. As we pointed out, the number only takes into consideration the positive effects...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Apr 2, 2017
Temporary disaster housing has an unforeseen permanence
The 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake left 110,000 people in three prefectures without shelter. Most of these people moved into emergency evacuation centers while the authorities prepared temporary housing for them.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 1, 2017
What, if anything, makes Japan unique?
In February, American comedian Atsugiri Jason remarked on a Fuji TV talk show that one of the "demerits" of being a foreign TV personality in Japan is that he can't publicly say he thinks those aspects of Japanese culture which Japanese people believe are "uniquely amazing" are not, in fact, uniquely...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 25, 2017
How the word 'terrorism' can help pass a bill
During the recent Diet grilling over his alleged involvement in the Moritomo Gakuen land purchase scandal, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe accused his opposition party tormentors of resorting to inshō sōsa. The most accurate English translation is probably "image manipulation," which, in the age of fake...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Mar 25, 2017
Reassessing the negative impact of hosting the 2020 Olympics
The estimated cost of the 2020 Olympic Games has increased astronomically since Tokyo won the right to host it. On Dec. 22, Asahi Shimbun reported that the estimated price could be as much as ¥1.8 trillion. The original bid estimate for constructing new Olympic venues was ¥499 billion and that is now...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 18, 2017
Asking the tough questions on Fukushima
In January, regional newspaper Fukushima Minpo interviewed Yosuke Takagi, state minister of economy, trade and industry. While talking about reconstruction plans for areas near the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, Takagi mentioned resurrecting Dash-mura (Dash Village), a farm created from...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Mar 11, 2017
Measuring the economics behind a shift to streaming
An article in the Feb. 17 issue of the Asahi Shimbun describes a restaurant in Osaka where diners can watch J. League soccer games. The restaurant has three TV monitors hooked up to Sky PerfecTV, one of Japan's satellite broadcast services. At the end of January, however, the J. League shifted its exclusive...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 11, 2017
The first missteps for Japan's first lady
On Feb. 27, Democratic Party lawmaker Kiyomi Tsujimoto submitted questions to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party about the activities of Akie Abe, the wife of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in regard to her relationship with Moritomo Gakuen, a controversial corporate body that wants to build an elementary...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Mar 4, 2017
Will we ever see no obstacles in our way?
Infrastructure in Japan is up to world standards in most areas, and in terms of public transportation it often surpasses those standards — but there's one field it falls way behind: utility poles and overhead cables that carry electrical power and telecommunications.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 4, 2017
No free ride for U.S. auto manufacturers
Anyone who was around in the 1980s will remember the turmoil caused by the U.S.-Japan trade imbalance, especially in the automotive field. In order to maintain their growing position in the American market, Japanese car manufacturers knew they would have to move some of their operations to the United...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 25, 2017
Premium Friday is not about taking a holiday
The anonymous writer of Asahi Shimbun's finance-related Keizai Kishodai column pointed out in the Feb. 18 edition that Japanese people only think of time off on a day-by-day basis, whereas Europeans tend to conceptualize it in week-long blocks, as 'vacations.'
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Feb 25, 2017
Popularity of card loans add to financial woes
Supreme Court records show that there were 64,637 filings for personal bankruptcy in 2016, an increase of 781 cases over 2015, thus marking the first increase in 13 years.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 18, 2017
Japan's 'Undercover Boss' reinforces stereotypes at work
The government proposal to limit overtime for salaried workers is supposed to reduce the incidence of karōshi (death from overwork), which often takes the form of suicide, and yet the authorities seems squeamish about making demands on employers.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 11, 2017
Foreign workers: Should they stay or should they go?
As the rest of the world debated the ramifications of U.S. President Donald Trump's travel ban on persons from seven Muslim-majority countries last week, Japan was notably silent.
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?
By Kathryn Wortley

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